Still unclear are the degree to which hookups may
result in positive reactions, and whether young men and
young women are sexually satisfied in these encounters.
Fine (1988) has argued that sex negativity is even more
pronounced when directed at women and, further, that
the possibility of desire seems to be missing from the
sexual education of young women. This discrepancy in the
socialization and education of men and women may be a
significant influence on behavioral patterns and outcomes in
sexual hookups.

Armstrong, England and Fogarty (2009) addressed sexual
satisfaction in a large study of online survey responses
from 12,295 undergraduates from 17 different colleges.
Participants were asked about oral sex rates and orgasm
in their most recent hookup and most recent relationship
sexual event. In this study, men reported receiving oral
sex both in hookups and in relationships much more than
women. In first-time hookups that involved oral sex, 55
percent included only men receiving oral sex, 19 percent
only women receiving oral sex, and 27 percent both
mutually receiving; in last relationship sexual activity, 32
percent included only men receiving oral sex, 16 percent
included only women receiving oral sex, and 52 percent
included both mutually receiving.

In both contexts, men also reached orgasm more often
than women. In first-time hookups, 31 percent of men and
10 percent of women reached orgasm; in last relationship
sexual activity, 85 percent of men and 68 percent of women
reached orgasm. Armstrong et al. (2009) concluded with
an important message: “A challenge to the contemporary
sexual double standard would mean defending the position
that young women and men are equally entitled to sexual
activity, sexual pleasure, and sexual respect in hookups
as well as relationships. To achieve this, the attitudes and
practices of both men and women need to be confronted.
Men should be challenged to treat even first hookup
partners as generously as the women they hook up with
treat them.”

Conclusion

Uncommitted sex, now being explored across a variety of
disciplines and theoretical perspectives, is best understood
as a biopsychosocial phenomenon. Evidence suggests that
both pleasure and reproductive motives may influence these
sexual patterns, as seen in participants’ reactions following
uncommitted sex. Further, the findings that a majority of
both men and women are motivated to engage in hookups,
but often desire a more romantic relationship, are consistent
with a nuanced perspective that takes into account changing
social scripts, new patterns of development, and the cross-cultural and biological centrality of the pair-bond (Fisher,